Assessment "for" and Assessment "as" Learning

Alison Jackson & Kathryn Anderson

Why is this policy document needed?

Curriculum/assessment regulation to set and meet standards of learning

Assessment information is for the purpose of improving learning (p.28)

Providing students with clear expectations and learning goals and adequate and timely feedback

Teachers using equitable practices to ensure student success

Need to create content and performance standards (p.16)

To allow for practices that are equitable for all students to be a priority

Regulation of teacher assessment practices

To help define and scaffold what types of assessment should be taking place within a classroom context

This policy provides “balance” (p.17) and allows students to have a variety of assessments count towards their achievement at any given grade level.

This policy helps to give context to student learning. With this, students are able to see success and because of this are better able to realize their ability to succeed with the right level of effort and application of skills.

Who are the stakeholders and what are their interests?

Parents

their children are impacted by policy

Teachers

they are responsible for carrying out what is mandated in the policy; they want to know what they have to do and how it will impact the classroom and their work in teaching students

PD and continued development will be impacted by this

Students

it will impact what they are learning and the way in which that takes place

will impact their successes within the classroom

Board

will determine how PD funding is allocated

will determine how successful schools and teaching staff are at delivering curriculum

will determine the types of teachers they interview and hire

Ministry

interested in standardizing the way that Ontario education is being delivered

providing and selling up to date curriculum based books for schools and boards in Ontario

Who is not involved in establishing this policy? Why?

Students

may not see what they need clearly

the policy applies to them, and it is written with them in mind

may not understand content that needs to delivered

Parents

over involvement (inability to take an unbiased approach)

very political

difficult for a decision to be made with so many interests to be presented and at stake

Teachers

could create more work

many interests at stake and difficult to manage expectations

unionization (may not see the bigger picture as to how to best educate students)

Media

“spin” in a negative way to the larger population

may not fully understand what the policy should contain and how decisions will impact the students, teachers and other members involved

don’t fully explain information, thus a mixed message and form of propaganda emerges

What agency/ organization implemented this policy?

Ministry of Education

Why was this policy implemented?

“updates, clarifies, coordinates, and consolidates the various aspects of the policy, with the aim of maintaining high standards, improving student learning, and benefiting students, parents, and teachers in elementary and secondary schools across the province” (p.2)

“The document is intended to ensure that policy is clear, consistent, and well aligned across panels and across school boards and schools, and that every student in the system benefits from the same high-quality process for assessing, evaluating, and reporting achievement” (p.2)

Promotes standardization across school boards

How is this policy achieving its goals?

Improved student success

Improved performance on standardized tests

Improved teacher quality of programming

Provides clear information for parents and students to understand

What is the current impact of this policy?

More explicitly defines expectations for students and teachers

Ministry upholds these standards and they are looked for in all schools during audits and inspections

Reform within schools and boards to ensure student success and a deeper understanding of curriculum

What changes would you make to this policy to make it more effective?

Allow for clearer guidelines about “most recent, most consistent”

Clearer directives on how to consistently provide feedback to students

Clearer directive on how to develop long range plans that fully embrace this policy

Clearer directive on how to create assignments that are “as” and “for” learning

Provide learning goals as defined by the Ministry, that are in student leveled language